Custom fitting of bowling balls



June 4, 1968 Q P, LOTTA 3,386,176

CUSTOM FITTING OF BOWLING BALLS 2 Sheets-Sheet l United States Patent "ice 3,386,176 CUSTOM FITTING OF BOWLING BALLS Russell P. Lotta, 3535 Latham St., Rockford, Ill. 61103 Filed Dec. 27, 1965, Ser. No. 516,477 Claims. (Cl. 33-174) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A master ball for use in locating finger holes in a blank ball and having two recesses in which cups are fitted and held by bolts extending through the ball and threaded into the bottoms of the cups. The cups are filled with wood fiber plastic in which the intended users fingers are pressed and adjusted to bowling positions, the fingers being encased in finger cups which are left in the plastic when the fingers are withdrawn. Then the excess plastic is scraped away, the plastic in the cups is allowed to harden, and the user can test the ball by actual bowling before the master ball is used as the model for drilling an actual ball.

This invention relates to the custom fitting of holes in a bowling ball to selected fingers of a users hand and has for its primary object to provide an improved method and means for locating such holes and eliminate the lack of certainty inherent in present fitting procedures.

Another object is to fit the holes precisely to the hand by using the hand itself to form the fitting holes in the master ball.

A further object is to provide a custom-fitting master ball with which the prospective user can test the fit by actual bowling experience before the holes are drilled in the blank ball.

Still another object is to provide a custom fitting which the user can retain for future use in case he needs another ball.

Another object is to eliminate the possibilityof a poorly fitted ball and the resulting expense of redrilling a new ball or plugging and redrilling the misfit.

A more detailed object is to provide a master ball having at least one removable section in which the user selects the digit positions by positioning the digits themselves in hardenable plastic securely but removably held in the ball to permit bowling experience with the master ball before the holes are transferred to a blank ball, the plastic mold being removable for retention by the user for future use.

Another object is to use the fingers to form holes of the same size and shape to be formed in the blank ball.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will'become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a master ball, constructed for use in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a fitting re ceptacle and the means for holding the latter removably in place on the ball.

3,386,176 Patented June 4, 1968 FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the ball, partly broken away along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1, with the receptacles removed.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of another receptacle and its holding means.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view smilar to part of FIG. 3 showing one receptacle in place in the ball.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a finger sleeve or cup used in the practice of the novel method.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the manner of fitting such sleeves on a users hand.

FIG. 8 is another cross-sectional view taken substantially along the line 33 of FIG. 1 showing the receptacles after the insertion of hardenable plastic fitting material.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8 showing the ball after positioning of the sleeves in the fitting material.

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9 after smoothing of the fitting material.

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary perspective view of one of the receptacles of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged perspective view of another finger sleeve.

Shown in the drawings for purposes of illustration is a master ball 10 for use in the location of holes for the fingers of a user prior to the drilling of such holes in a blank ball (not shown). Because of the wide variations in the sizes of hands and personal preferences with respect to the pitch angles and spacing of holes in bowling balls, it has been customary for sellers of such balls to maintain a master ball having a wide variety of combinations of holes predrilled in selected combinations from which a prospective purchaser selects the combination best suited to his hand. Another fitting device uses rigid tubes mechanically and adjustably positioned on a fitting ball. After the set of master holes is selected or adjusted to the hand, the holes are used as guides in a machine which drills holes in a blank ball in the same relative positions and angles as the selected holes in the master ball. Such machines are well known in the art and thus are not illustrated herein.

The difficulties with this procedure are the inability to provide a master ball having a combination to fit every hand in precisely the manner desired by each prospective purchaser, the time required to adjust a mechanical device to precisely the fit desired, and the possibility that the purchaser may select a combination which, after experience with the finger holes drilled in the ball, proves to be unsatisfactory for one reason or another. When this happens, all the purchaser can do is buy a new ball to be drilled with a new set of holes, or have the original set plugged and the ball redrilled.

The present invention contemplates a new and improved method of and means for selecting the location and angles of the holes to be drilled in the blank ball and eliminating the lack of certainty inherent in present fitting procedures, using the prospective purchasers hand alone to locate the holes quickly and easily in the master ball and insuring that the fit is satisfactory before the holes are duplicated in the blank ball. To these ends, the body 0 of the master ball 10 is formed with at least one recess 11 (see FIG. 3) in the area in which the holes are to be located, and a removable body of hardenable plastic fitting material is inserted in the recess preparatory to forming of the holes in the plastic material. To form the holes in precisely the right locations relative to each other, the prospective purchaser sinks the fingers of his hand into the plastic and forms the latter around the fingers in the selected locations. After hardening of the plastic, the im prints are used as guides for the machine which drills corresponding holes in the blank ball.

Preferably, two recesses 11 and 12 are formed in the master ball 10, the recess 11 begin in the area of the finger holes of the ball and the other recess 12 being in the area of the thumb hole. The finger hole recess should be somewhat larger in cross-sectional area to accommodate two or more holes with varied spacing of the holes. Herein, both recesses are of generally rectangular cross-section and taper inwardly toward the center of the ball from the open sides at the periphery of the ball to closed inner ends 13, 14 spaced sufficiently inwardly from the periphery to accommodate the deepest finger penetration that is to be expected in service use. Of course, size and spacing of the recesses from each other are selected to provide plastic areas that will accommodate the full range of different combinations of finger-and thumb-hole locations.

To facilitate the handling of the plastic material, a cup-shaed receptacle 15, 17 is inserted in each recess to receive the soft plastic, hold the latter while the holes are formed, and facilitate the removal of the hardened plastic from the ball after the fitting operation is completed. As shown most clearly in FIGS. 2 and 4, each receptacle is a cup composed of suitable material such as plastic having an open outer side and a size and shape that conform to the size and shape of the associated recess in the ball. The inward tapers of the cups and recesses permit the cups to be seated firmly in the recesses with the arcuate edges 18, 19 of the open sides even with or slightly inside the periphery of the ball.

Each cup 15, 17 is securely but releasably held in the associated recess 11, 12 by means of a bolt 20 inserted through the ball from the opposite side thereof and threaded into a nut 21 suitably fastened to the inner end of the cup. The heads 22 of the bolts are recessed into counterbores 23 around the exposed ends of the bolt passages 24 and thus are out of the way but readily accessible.

With the cups disposed in their recesses 'as shown in FIGS. 1 and and held in place by the bolts 20, a quantity of the plastic fitting material 25 is inserted in each cup in soft condition in the manner indicated in 1 FIG. 8. While there are several different plastics suit-able for use in the practice of the invention, I prefer wood fiber plastic which is mixed with water to form a thick paste that sets in a matter of minutes. After the cups are filled with the soft plastic, the ball is ready for location of the finger holes therein.

In order to form holes in the plastic the same size and shape as those that eventually will be formed by the drilling machine, and also to minimize the mess involved in the fitting operation, the selected fingers of the users hand are fitted with finger cups 26 and 27 open at one end for insertion of a finger and closed at the other end to prevent entry of plastic into the cup as it is pressed into the plastic. A ready supply of diiferent diameters of cups is maintained to insure a proper fit for each finger, and different lengths of cups are provided for different hole depths. The cups may be composed of any suitable material, for example, arelatively stiif plastic, and are made somewhat longer than the depth of the finger holes to be formed. customarily, the fingers for which holes are formed are the thumb, the middle finger and the ring finger which are shown fitted with cups in FIG. 7. Shown in FIG. 12 is a modified cup 23 having an outwardly flared lip 29 at its open end and used to form a modified hole in the plastic. It will be apparent that any desired size and shape of cup may be selected to fit the users preference.

With cups on the fingers to be fitted, the user simply sinks his fingers into the soft plastic 25 and adjusts the positions of the cups therein until he has his hand in the mot comfortable and effective position for bowling. The plastic is pressed firmly around the cups in the desired position, and the fingers are withdrawn, leaving the cups in place in the plastic. It will be seen in FIG. 9 that the plastic is displaced outwardly during the insertion of the sleeves. If desired, the receptacles and 17 may be underfilled to some extent to leave space for the displaced material and reduce the amount of bulging of the plastic beyond the periphery of the ball 10. The open ends of the cups should be positioned approximately flush with the periphery of the ball.

While the plastic is soft, the excess material may be scraped away, preferably using a plate having an acruate scraping edge. If the cup ends are spaced outwardly from the surface of the ball as shown in FIG. 9, it may be necessary to cut them off. Then, after the plastic hardens, the cups 26 and 27 are held securely in place in the receptacles. One significant advantages of this arrangement, in addition to the precise custom fitting obtained, is the fact that the master ball 10, in the condition illustrated in EIG. 10, may be used for actual bowling experience before the decision is made to use the hole locations in drilling a blank ball. If this is to be done, care should be exercised in the selection of the plastic fitting material, which should be durable enough in the hardened condition to sustain the impacts of bowling. This material preferably is anchored in the receptacles by means of inwardly projecting ribs 30 along the side walls of the cups so that the plastic flows around these ribs in the soft condition and is locked in by the ribs after hardening.

The. drilling of the actual ball to be used may be accomplished in the usual manner, using the hole locations and pitch angles of the master ball to locate the drill relative to the ball for the drilling operation. When this is completed, the receptacles 15 and 17 are removed from the master ball 10 and may be retained by the customer or the seller for future use in drilling other balls. To insure that the receptacles are oriented in the recesses 11, 12 in the proper position relative to the body and are returned to the same position during subsequent use, a V-shaped inwardly tapering rib 31 is bent out of one of the side walls of each cup to slide into a similarly shaped notch in the adjacent wall of the associated recess and thereby key the cup in the recess.

I claim as my invention:

1. The method of custom-fitting holes in a bowling ball to selected fingers of a users hand comprising the steps of, providing a master ball having a recess in the area in which the holes are to be formed, inserting in said recess a removable receptacle having an open outer side defining said area, placing a body of hardenable plastic fitting material in said recess, fitting removable cups onto the selected fingers of the hand, sinking said cups into said fitting material and positioning the cups therein with said fingers according to the hand size, withdrawing the fingers from the fitting material while leaving the cups in the selected positions, and hardening the fitting material.

2. The method defined in claim 1 further including the steps of removably anchoring said receptacle in said recess and smoothing the plastic material across said open side after the positioning of the cups whereby the master ball may be tested prior to duplication of the holes in a blank ball.

3. The method defined in claim 1 in which two recesses are formed in adjacent areas of said master ball for finger and thumb holes, receptacles are inserted in the respective recesses and filled with hardenable plastic material, and a first cup is fitted on the users thumb and positioned in the material of one recess while other cups are fitted on other selected fingers of the hand and positioned in the material of the adjacent recess.

4. The method of custom-fitting holes in a bowling ball to selected fingers of a users hand comprising the steps of, providing a master ball having a recess in the area in Which the holes are to be located, placing a body of hardenable plastic material in said recess, fitting removable cups on the selected fingers of the hand, sinking said cups in said plastic material and positioning the cups therein with said fingers according to the hand size, Withdrawing said fingers from the plastic material while leaving the cups in the selected positions, and hardening the plastic material.

5. A master ball for the custom fitting of holes to selected fingers of a users hand comprising a ball body having a recess in one side in the area in which the holes are to be located, a cup-shaped receptacle disposed in said recess and having an open outer side adjacent the periphery of said body and defining said area, means for securely but releasably holding said receptacle in said recess, a body of hardenable plastic material in said receptacle, and a plurality of finger cups disposed in said material with the open outer ends of said cups approximately flush with the periphery of said body whereby the ball mey be tested prior to duplication of the holes in a blank ball.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 712,192 10/1902 Immen 273-63 2,693,034 11/1954 Watson. 2,712,160 7/ 1955 Sterczek 264-222 SAMUEL S. MATTHEWS, Primary Examiner. 

